Buh-Bye Keith

We called this a few months ago...predicting that Keith Olbermann's days at MSNBC were numbered. But at the time, we thought the insufferable host might be plotting his own escape:

Olbermann is unhappy at NBC. His role on Sunday night football was eliminated this season, and he's also been banished from election coverage on the broadcast network. Meanwhile, CNN's prime-time ratings are in free fall, and their latest 8 p.m. offering, the dreadful Parker/Spitzer, is DOA. It's hardly a secret that CNN is already looking for a replacement in this time slot, and Olbermann's audience (while only a fraction of Bill O'Reilly's on FNC) would be a major improvement for the third-place cable news channel.

Unfortunately for CNN, Olbermann is currently locked into a four-year contract with MSNBC. However, violation of a network policy would give NBC an excuse to fire Olbermann, who (presumably) would surface at CNN (with a bigger contract and expanded role) in the very near future. If CNN has approached the MSNBC host (or his agent), then Olbermann may have been emboldened, believing he had nothing to lose--and maybe, a better deal to gain--if his political donations landed him in hot water. Additionally, if NBC decides to fire Olbermann, that could negate the "no compete" clause in his contract, allowing him to appear on CNN sooner, rather than later. So, there might be a method to Olbermann's latest act of madness.

Still, that reasoning would contradict our final theory, namely that the MSNBC anchor can't handle any degree of success. Over a 30-year broadcasting career, Olbermann has been fired (or walked away) from a number of plum jobs, including his most famous gig, as Dan Patrick's partner on ESPN's SportsCenter.

Indeed, Olbermann's reputation as a difficult employee is nearly as long as his resume. Fresh out of college, he was almost fired from his first sportscasting job, after telling his bosses at UPI radio service that their inept management made the network a "small time" operation. He followed that with a rocky, three-year stint at CNN, and a few months as sports anchor at Boston's WCVB-TV. Only in his mid-20's Olbermann was seemingly washed-up, out of work and living back at home with his parents in suburban New York.

Still, there were a few folks willing to take a chance on Olbermann. After stints at two TV stations in Los Angeles, he landed at ESPN, becoming part of the marquee team on SportsCenter. But Olbermann made plenty of enemies at the network; he battled with ESPN executives and subjected on-air colleagues to blistering criticism (with the exception of Dan Patrick). He left the sports channel under a cloud in 1997 and was personally fired from Fox Sports by Rupert Murdoch in 2001. A fellow sports anchor at ESPN once observed that Olbermann doesn't just burn bridges, he napalms them. When the sports channel celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2004, Olbermann was conspicuously absent from the reunion of current and former hosts--a reminder that he is still reviled in Bristol.

Six years later, he's apparently worn out his welcome again, this time at MSNBC.

As you may recall, our post was prompted by Olbermann's brief suspension from the network for making campaign contributions to several Democratic politicians--in violation of NBC policies. While some believed Olby's days were numbered, other media insiders predicted MSNBC would stick with the controversial host, since he had the highest ratings on the network. But then came Friday night's stunning announcement, as reported by the AP:

MSNBC's most successful and controversial personality for his outspoken liberal prime-time program, gave an abrupt goodbye to viewers and said Friday was his last show.

It was not immediately known if he quit or was fired. Olbermann did not address the question, and MSNBC said only that they and Olbermann had ended their contract. He signed a four-year contract two years ago.

"MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in MSNBC's success and we wish him well in his future endeavors," the network said in a statement.

While the reason for Olbermann's sudden departure was not immediately revealed, some believe it was related to Comcast's pending takeover of NBC, suggesting that the cable conglomerate might want more balance on the network. True, some Comcast executives have donated to the GOP, but the vast majority of their contributions have gone to Democrats. Moreover, the revamped MSNBC line-up remains exclusively liberal, so any "turn to the right" is still a ways off.

As we speculated in November, there are more likely reasons for the change. First, Comcast is extremely focused on the bottom line; the company saw little reason to pay big bucks to a host that delivered less than half the audience of his cable news competitor, Bill O'Reilly (Olbermann's last contract, signed in 2009, paid him $30 million over four years. Secondly, Mr. Olbermann probably viewed his problems at NBC as an opportunity to jump to CNN, which is looking for anything that will draw an audience at 8 pm. Finally, even the execs at NBC had grown tired of his antics and were willing to cut him loose, figuring Lawrence O'Donnell (who inherits the 8 pm slot on MSNBC) can generate similar numbers--and reduce the talent payroll, to boot.

At this point, Mr. Olbermann better hope CNN is interested. Beyond that ratings-challenged network, Olbermann has few job options right now. That anchor at ESPN pegged Olby right; he doesn't simply burn bridges, he obliterates them. Consequently, there is a long list of TV executives who hate Olbermann with a passion and will never hire him again. You can now add the folks at NBC to the list (remember: this was Olbermann's second stint at that network).

From their perspective, the TV host might be described as "The Worst Person in the World."